Bondi to Coogee - Nov 18

The day started off with a every early bush walk at 6 am. We were all used to getting up early to catch the bus when we were in NZ, but 545 am sure came fast and was not welcomed by us girls. But we all managed to get up and out the door by 6 with Karen in tow and met up with their neighbor, Jim, for a short walk to a beautiful waterfall. He had tons of little stories to keep us entertained as we made our way through the bush. We received a quick lesson about the eucalyptus trees, the aboriginals and some other history about Oz. Before we knew it we were at a gorgeous waterfall with an amazing view of the Royal National Park. What a great way to start the day! We got back to the house, refueled with eggs and yogurt, and went off to the Miranda mall for a couple hours, where Danielle and Britt got their Australian phones and then headed off to Bondi beach for the afternoon, meeting up with Valena at the train station. We got to Bondi beach and as soon as we saw the beach full of surfers and beach bums, we fell in love. Between the turquoise waters, white sand and beautiful people to stare at, we could not find one reason why we would ever leave this place (except for family and friends of course). After strategically changing into our bikinis with the help of a beach towel, we scurried down to the beach to sink our sand in the feet and walk down the beach. We decided to walk from Bondi beach to Coogee beach, which takes about an hour and a half, following the coast line, passing by little beaches along the way and beautiful views of the ocean. With the sun shining down on us, we were in bright spirits and off we went. We all really enjoyed the walk for the first hour and ten minutes, but then hunger started to get the best of us and we started to drag our feet, complaining about our rumbling stomachs, how hot it was, our sore feet, and anything else we could think of. At one point I was even dragging my white purse on the ground, cursing myself for packing so much into one bag. Luckily it took no time at all to get to our final destination from there and we were on our search to find food. We totally lucked out and found $5 steak with chips and salad. We couldn't believe it! We quickly got into line and about 10 minutes later we were all sitting down just gazing at our delicious meals (well, they were gazing, I was already scarfing mine down). Our luck didn't end there. After supper I was craving something sweet, so we went into Subway to check out their cookies. Much to my delight they had a new kind, a double chocolate chunk with half of it covered with white chocolate and milk chocolate drizzle. Valena being the deal maker that she is asked if we could have a sample, and we ended up getting a whole cookie to try. Well that satisfied my craving for sweets and we left for our next stop. We made it to the bus stop without any other distractions until we saw McDonalds across the street. Their 50 cent cones are just too good to resist, but somehow that night we managed to and instead Dan stopped there for a coffee fix. The rest of us went for a short walk down the street and ended up getting a container full of two different kinds of salads that we wanted to sample. We were bubbling with joy when Dan met up with us, and she joined in after being given a free latte with her coffee. Seriously, how many free things could we get in one night? Four Canadian girls in Australia seems to be quite an advantage for us and we plan to keep using it to get "samples" and saving money that way. Who knows, maybe by the end we could manage to get free clothes! Wouldn't that be ideal?
Luv Jod